Category Archives: Cemetery

Autumn Cemetery

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I was out exploring the back roads before my presentation in Lakeville and I came upon this old cemetery. The Dickenson Whitesell cemetery looked so peaceful covered in autumn leaves.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Tamarak Library in Lakeview yesterday. It was a lot of fun meeting all of you. My next presentation will be in Omer on Monday, November 4th at the historic Masonic Lodge at 7 pm.

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The German Headstones

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Twenty-six solitary headstones are lined up In a section of Fort Custer National Cemetery. They mark the graves of German Prisoners of War that died in Michigan while being held in POW camps. Sixteen of the men were killed on October 31st, 1945 when their truck pulled in front of a train. The men were returning from working in a beet field in Blissfield Michigan, The violent crash killed the german men and Pfc Edward B. Loughrin who was assigned to guard the men. He was buried in his hometown of Cadillac Michigan.

The rest of the Germans buried at Fort Custer National Cemetery died of natural causes other than one who was killed when a wire snapped while on work detail. Michigan had approximately 30 POW camps during WWII. Most of the men were captured Germans from Africa. They worked the fields and lumbermills and most where model prisoners. For most, being a POW working in the fields was better than being shot at in the war. Many of the men emigrated back to the US after the war.

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The Island Cemetary

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Saint Ann’s Cemetery on Mackinac Island in behind the fort near Skull Cave. It was not always at this location. I was originally next to Ste Anne’s Catholic Church near downtown. One of the oldest headstones in the cemetery is for Mary Biddle, She was eight years old when she fell through the ice and died in 1833. In the 1850s the cemetery could no longer accept new burials because it could not expand into the city. The bodies were exhumed and moved to the current cemetery further into the island.

Years later after the cemetery was moved, headstones were found among the weeds at the old location. Workers found them before construction of the buildings that now stand near the church. It makes you wonder how thorough they were at moving the bodies of those laid to rest. One thing that is odd about the cemetery is the name. On the gate, it reads St Ann’s Cemetery but the church is Ste. Anne’s. Legend also has it the gate was build to accomadate a horse-drawn hearse but they forgot about the driver. That fueled the legend of the headless horseman or in this case hearseman.

It is a beautiful old cemetery and the carriage tours travel along the road next to it. And if you are wondering, To be laid to rest in the cemetery you either need to have been born on the island or been a resident or owned a business on the island for more than 15 years

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The Spirits of Quaker Cemetery

Posted on by Posted in Cemetery, Haunted Places .

concealed in the woods at the end of an unmarked two-track trail is the old Quaker Cemetery. It is in a desolate section a few miles south of Nashville. No, not that Nashville, known for country music, but Nashville Michigan.

Eli Lapham, a Quaker minister, settled the area in 1837. After a sawmill was constructed the area grew in population with people of the quaker faith. over time the trees were cut down. The swampy area was not good for farming so the Quakers had left leaving behind a small cemetery on a hill.

Sadly many of the headstones are broken. I am not sure if it is due to the ravages of time or vandals, probably a little bit of both. Some say the surrounding woods are haunted by the spirits whose graves have been forgotten. It has been said that you can see spirits among the trees watching visitors.

I did not see anyone or anything mysterious. It was sad to see the condition that some of the headstones are in. The old cemetery does seem to have been remembered by the local historical society. A new historical marker stands at the site and the grass was mowed. Maybe the spirits are a little more content and do not bother visitors as long as they behave themselves.

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The Hidden Ghost Town Cemetery

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The town of Hamlin was a sawmill town founded by Charles Mears that was destroyed in a tragic event. The town began in 1852 with Mears Building a wooden dam on the Big Sable River which is in the present-day Ludington State Park. Over the years Hamling grew to have a school, church, saloons and several houses. In 1888 the wooden dam broke and the force of the rushing water pushed the building of Hamlin off their foundations and downstream. You can see some of the foundations and a few artifacts on the path along the river.

Most people that visit the park are unaware of the cemetery that is hidden in the woods. It’s up on a hill not far from the parking lot for Hamlin Beach. The cemetery only has a few headstones and is surrounded by an old wooden fence.

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The Ghost Town of Onominese

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Rows of white wooden crosses stand in a simple cemetery near Lake Michigan. The people laid to rest under them is all that remains of Onominese. A small Indian village named after the Indian Chief Onominese. ( also spelled Onominee) The town was about five miles north of Leland, in the Leelanau Peninsula on Lake Michigan. The people that lived there mostly traveled to the town by canoe as there were no roads that led to the village.

Reverend Smith traveled through crude forest trails almost every Sunday from Northport to conduct church services. A small schoolhouse was built after the Civil War ended in 1865. Beside bringing religion and education to the native Americans the white man brought an epidemic of smallpox and diphtheria that killed off most of the small village’s population. It is the white crosses of those that died which stand in the filed near Lake Michigan to tell the story of the small Indian village that once was.

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A Soldiers Final Resting Place

Posted on by Posted in Cemetery, Thumb .

When thinking of Memorial Day many people can recall an image from a national cemetery with row and rows of headstones and American flags placed alongside them. I have visited many old rural cemeteries and see some individual tombstones with the Stars and Stripes proudly waving in the breeze. They may not be laid to rest with their brothers and sisters in a large elaborate cemetery, but that does not mean that the sacrifice they made was insignificant or forgotten. Thank you to the people who honor the veterans by placing flags next to the graves. I notice them and am grateful for their sacrifices.

I saw this headstone and flag on a hill in the Old Bayport Cemetery where many of the residents of the Ora Labora Colony are laid to rest.  you can read about that HERE

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The Price of Freedom

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It is an awe-inspiring sight to see the row upon row of white headstones of the veterans laid to rest in the National Cemetery in Holly. I highly recommend visiting this beautiful place. It is a good reminder of the price of freedom and the sacrifices made to protect it.

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The White Tombstone

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On the outskirts of Saginaw in the back of Oakwood Cemetery is the veterans section with a Civil War Monument surrounded by tombstones of the veterans that so proudly served in the military. You will notice one marker is cleaner than the rest of the markers. I don’t know who Ross F. Huffman is other than what is written on his marker and that he served in the infantry during World War II. His marker is in a restored state and cleaned compared to the surrounding headstones. My friend worked at the cemetery, and he told me that one of Mr. Hoffman’s relatives was researching their genealogy and family heritage when they discovered they were related to Mr. Hoffman. While visiting the cemetery, they painstakingly scrubbed and cleaned the tombstone. It stands out among the other markers but they deserve to be honored and remembered.

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The Heroes in Pinery Cemetery

Posted on by Posted in Cemetery, upper peninsula .

A few miles northeast of L’Anse in the Upper Peninsula is the Pinery Indian Cemetery. The land has been used as a Native American burial ground since the 1600s. Many of the graves have spirit houses. They provide a place for loved ones to leave food, arrows, beads, and items needed for the deceased to travel to the spirit world.

I have been to the national cemeteries in Holly, Grand Rapids, and Port Huron and I have seen veterans sections in other cemeteries. I usually see American flags next to the headstones. It was inspiring to see an American flag next to the spirit houses. It is a reminder that people came from all walks of life and different backgrounds and religions to fight and defend freedom in this country.

If you are looking for places to explore this summer books are available on my website  HERE or at Amazon HERE

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